Leafs bench boss confirms star player is IN after missing practice
There was cause for concern yesterday at Leaf practice when Wayne Simmonds was seen skating alongside Auston Matthews and Michael Bunting on the Leafs' top line instead of William Nylander. Nylander did not attend practice at all and there was no update provided by the Leafs following practice.
The lack of update following practice is what caused the concern as Sheldon Keefe usually provides one on players that miss practice. Often calling them "maintenance days" like we've seen them do with Matthews and Matt Murray this season. Given the fact that Keefe did not provide an official update yesterday, it looked as though Nylander could end up missing tonight's game against the Kraken.
That is not the case however, as Nylander skated briefly this morning, participating in a couple of drills before leaving the ice. Keefe then confirmed that Nylander would play tonight. Nylander has 5 points over his last two games and currently leads the Leafs in goals with 22 and points with 45.
Perhaps he's dealing with something minor and some simple load management allowed for him to rest enough to be given the green light. Whatever the case, we're just glad that Nylander is good to go, as he's been arguably the Leafs' MVP this season.
| POLL | ||
5 JANVIER | 227 ANSWERS Leafs bench boss confirms star player is IN after missing practice Will Nylander score 50 goals this season? | ||
| Yes | 106 | 46.7 % |
| No | 121 | 53.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
